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US Intelligence Helped To Extradite India's Most Wanted

Jit Mukherjii - 11/13/2005

It was on the fateful Friday of March 12, 1993 that Abu Salem, allegedly carried out the massacre of 300 innocents in Mumbai, India. Finally, on 11th November, another Friday, India's dogged endeavor to bring the suspected killers to book, bore fruit. India's second most wanted don, Abu Salem, was handed over to CBI officials in Portugal, where they were held back in prison. Initially, Portugal was reluctant to hand over because of European Union mandatory laws which states that a guilty cannot be handed over to a country, which has got capital punishment. Incidentally, India has got capital punishment laws. In fact, the previous Prime Minister, Mr. Atal bihari Bajpayee promised to the Portuguese government that Mr. Salem would not face capital punishment in India.

Meanwhile, the court has also raised an issue, which can become a legal controversy - it questioned the investigating agency CBI counsel's submission that under a Government commitment to a Portugal court, Salem can't be given death penalty and that the maximum jail term he can be subjected to, is 25 years. What a pity? How can the man who has killed more than 300 innocent people in his lifetime, can claim mercy for his own life?

His mentor in this underworld terrorism was Dawood Ibrahim, India's most wanted don. But Salem parted ways from his mentor in 1997 and formed his own gang. Because of his mentor only that Abu Salem is now in the custody of Indian police. He had already duped a Sharjah bank of millions of dollars and using that money to buy luxurious properties in New Jersey, USA.

It was Dawood, who alerted American Intelligence agencies in the Gulf with the help of his contacts that Abu Salem is in USA and making huge property deals. But before US intelligence agencies could lay their hands on him, Salem left USA and left for Portugal. He had 12 different passports in 12 different names. It was tip off from US agencies that Portugal police arrested him and his wife Monica Bedi on the ground that he was traveling with forged documents. Incidentally, Monica Bedi was a well-known actress of Indian cinema who fell in love with him and escaped with him leaving behind a promising film career.

CBI director Mr. U Mishra said that extradition of Salem and Monica Bedi was possible because of growing international concern over terrorists who are now operating in different states, and transnational criminals involved in different gangs. It was a combination of determined diplomacy as well as lower threshold of terror internationally, post 9/11. FBI also took an initiative to arrest Salem and Monica Bedi in Portugal.

Indians, however, feel that Salem must be given a painful death penalty. How can you show mercy on these type of people who have claimed have hundreds of innocent lives just for nothing. Will the US government show mercy on Laden once he is caught? Why did Mr. Blair send his troops to Iraq? Nothing short of capital punishment Salem deserves, feels 90% of Indians.